Ankle support designed to maintain proper integral boot fit

ABSTRACT

A bunker style pull-on boot comprises a special ankle support designed to conform to the natural curvature of the human foot. The support wraps around the entire back half of the ankle area. As an integral part of the boot, it provides a grasp of the entire ankle area to securely anchor the foot into the boot to prevent heel lift when walking or running.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/557,685 filed on Mar. 31, 2004

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to footwear and, more particularly, to a system to limit up and down movement of the heel in pull-on boots having no harnessing systems.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Traditionally, rubber or synthetic rubber has dominated firefighter footwear boots in the style commonly referred to as “bunker style”. This styling is a pull-on and does not make use of any harnessing system such as laces or zippers. The reason for this popular style is that firefighters, responding to an emergency call, do not have time to lace up boots. The notion of pull-on remains embedded with over 80% of the market. By convention, leather (or synthetic fabric) boots for the fire service provide the same styling. Given the nature of these materials, they cannot be manufactured pre-moulded to intimately contour the shape of the foot. Bunker style leather (or synthetic fabric) pull-up boots are notably absent of any mechanism that maintains the integrity of the heel-to-boot contact under walking, running or when suspended.

Firefighters wear boots to protect their feet against heat, cold, water, puncture and cut wounds, and sprains. Their activities are not limited to only walking, but running and crawling in all types of debris—often on un-level or unstable flooring. The importance of maintaining protective footwear securely in place has often been ignored because of the limitation of existing designs.

Applicant is not aware of any pull-on leather (or synthetic fabric) boots offering any proven method of securing the foot into place to prevent excessive heel lift when walking or running. Brands offering leather (or synthetic fabric) such as: Haix®, Pro-Warington®, Servus®, Ranger®, Lacrosse®, Thorogood, Tradition Footwear® make reference to moulded heel counters (or heel cup) as ensuring superior comfort and fit. Black Diamond™ refers to a comfort fit heel area. Its design is similar to the heel counter described above. Tradition Footwear™ does have some foam padding in place, but only for enhancing ankle support and comfort. Lacrosse® makes reference to a tapered design above the ankle area to provide a better fit and easier donning and doffing.

From what is available in the market today, it is obvious that no one has recognized the inherent need for ensuring that the entire back of the foot area is well anchored into place to prevent the heel from disengaging when walking, running or in a suspended state.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an aim of the present invention to apply ankle support technology to pull-on leather (or synthetic fabric) boots such as those used by firefighters so that they may continue wearing pull-on boot without any harnessing system and feel secure that the boot will not come off or lift from the heel when walking, running or suspended.

Therefore, in accordance with a general aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bunker pull-on type boot comprising a boot body adapted to be pull-on over a wearer's foot, a self-fastening system operative to securely anchor the foot into the boot to substantially prevent heel lift when walking or running, said self-fastening system including an ankle clip biased towards a closed position to snugly grasp the wearer's ankle.

In accordance with a further general aspect of the present invention, there is provided a boot comprising an upper body for receiving a wearer's foot, an ankle clip mounted to said upper body for clipping about the wearer's ankle to securely maintain the foot in position in said upper body, said ankle clip comprising a pair of gripping arms extending on opposed sides of said upper body in an ankle area thereof, a web extending at the back of said upper body and interconnecting said gripping arms, said gripping arms being biased towards each other to a close position, the gripping arms opening up under the pressure exerted thereon by the wearer's foot when the wearer pulls-on the boot over his/her foot and automatically closing down against the wearer's ankle once the wearer's foot has been fully inserted in the boot pass the ankle clip.

It is another object of the present invention to further apply the ankle support technology to lace-up leather (or synthetic fabric) boots for enhancing foot anchoring particularly as laces loosen over time. Lace-up boots used by military, police, medical and USAR first responders as well as some firefighters are typically provided with a secondary zipper harnessing system. It is understood that emergency responders will not have the time to lace up the boot over time they slip into them. The zipper accommodates this need by allowing them fast entry and exit from the boot. Over time, the laces will have a tendency to loosen and while commonly accepted that a re-tightening of the laces should be done periodically, it cannot be expected. The ankle support technology will act as a safety backup by ensuring the foot remains well anchored regardless of the fact that the laces may be loose.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, showing by way of illustration a preferred embodiment thereof, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of a conventional bunker-type boot illustrating how the wearer's heel is lifted away from the insole while walking;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of a bunker type boot provided with a ankle support adapted to secure the boot to the wearer's foot and prevent lifting of the heel while walking or running, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of the boot shown in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a rear elevation view of the boot shown in FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As will be seen hereinafter, the present invention generally relates to the adaptation of form fitting ankle support material within “bunker style” boot for the specific purpose of maintaining maximum boot/foot contact that is, in the contact between the heel of the foot and the sole of the boot during walking or running motion and when suspended.

Bunker, pull-on styles leather (or synthetic fabric) boots are characterized by the fact that they do not make use of any fastening system. Boots are pulled on and expected to maintain good integrity principally through the design of the boot.

FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional bunker type boot 10 having no harnessing or fastening system. As depicted by arrows 11, the heel is free to move upwardly away from the insole 12 of the boot 10 while walking. As shown in FIG. 2, the present invention overcomes this drawback by integrating an ankle support 20 into the upper of a boot 22, the ankle support “clipping” about the wearer's ankle to prevent lifting of the heel from the insole 24 of the boot 22 while walking.

The ankle support 20 is preferably inserted between the inner and outer skins of the boot 22 and fixedly secured in position by any appropriate means. The ankle support 20 can be seen as an ankle wrap which provides lateral support to the wearer's ankle and which is anatomically formed to snugly fit about the wearer's ankle. In addition to providing lateral support, the ankle support 20 acts as a fastening system to secure the bunker pull-on boot 22 to the wearer's foot. More particularly, the ankle support 20 is provided in the form of a C-shaped clip including a pair of spring loaded ankle gripping arms 26 and 28 biased towards a closed position. When the wearer's pull-on the boot 22 over his/her foot, the arms 26 and 28 open up under the pressure exerted thereon by the foot and subsequently close down against the wearers ankle once the foot has been fully inserted in the boot pass the ankle support 20. It is the inherent resiliency of the support ankle 20 which provides this self-fastening property to the boot 22. The clamping action of the ankle support about the ankle of the wearer's advantageously allows securing the boot to the wearer's foot without having to tighten or fasten any harnessing system. This system is particularly advantageous when applied to firefighter or other emergency responder's footwear, where the wearer has not always the time to properly tighten the boot around his/her foot to create a snug fit.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the ankle support 20 wraps around the entire back half of the ankle area of the wearer. The support is placed above the counter and extends upward to the bottom of the calf area. Within the boot 22, it is strategically located at the ankle level to perform its dual function.

The ankle support can be made of a relatively rigid material with a relatively soft cover padding material. For instance, the core material can be an injection moulded plastic material. The soft padding material provides a comfortable fit for the wearer by surrounding the relatively rigid spring loaded material.

The ankle padding could be made of SBR-foam. This is vulcanized synthetic rubber air foam. The support 20 is moulded with multiple reliefs, such as relief cutouts 27 in a back web portion 25 of the support 20 (see FIG. 4) to permit natural flex motion of the wearer's foot while walking or running. The support is designed to conform to the natural curvature of the human foot. The foam material is designed to mould comfortably around the back of the foot and ankle. It uses a combination of material flex and shape to ensure full and secure coverage to the anatomy of the foot. The moulded foam piece is designed to maintain the foot anchored securely into the boot during movement. The foam piece can be directly embedded securely underneath the leather or synthetic fabric outer layer of the boot. It is multi-level foam designed to work with the natural anatomy of the foot. The foam material is designed to allow for vertical flex of the foot and does not interfere with the natural movement of the foot.

As an integral part of the boot, the ankle support 20 provides a grasp of the entire ankle area—an important requirement particularly in the bunker style leather (or synthetic fabric) boots, which are pull-on and use no harnessing method.

In addition, this special ankle support 20 provides extra comfort and support, without inhibiting the natural movement of the human ankle.

The ankle support discussed above could also be integrated to laced-up style boots, such as those used by military; police; medical, USAR personnel and a minority of firefighters. In this case, the support would serve to enhance the fit and allow for more reasonable tightening of laces. Also, over time as laces loosen the ankle support padding would contribute to ensure that foot/boot interface is not degraded. 

1. A bunker pull-on type boot comprising a boot body adapted to be pull-on over a wearer's foot, a self-fastening system operative to securely anchor the foot into the boot to substantially prevent heel lift when walking or running, said self-fastening system including an ankle clip biased towards a closed position to snugly grasp the wearer's ankle.
 2. A bunker pull-on type boot as defined in claim 1, wherein said ankle clip includes a C-shaped clip member having a pair of spring-loaded ankle gripping arms biased towards each other from opposed sides of said boot body.
 3. A bunker pull-on type boot as defined in claim 2, wherein the C-shaped clip member extends around the entire back half of the ankle area of the boot body with said gripping arms positioned on opposed sides of the boot body.
 4. A bunker pull-on type boot as defined in claim 3, wherein the boot body has a counter area and a calf area, and wherein the C-shaped clip member is placed above said counter area and extends upward to the bottom of said calf area.
 5. A bunker pull-on type boot as defined in claim 3, wherein said spring-loaded gripping arms are connected together through a back web portion, and wherein relief cut-outs are provided in said back web portion.
 6. A bunker pull-on type boot as defined in claim 1, wherein said ankle clip has a C-shaped clip body including a pair of spring-loaded gripping arms extending on opposed inner and outer sides of the boot body, and a back web portion interconnecting said spring-loaded gripping arms, said back web portion covering a back area of the boot body.
 7. A boot comprising an upper body for receiving a wearer's foot, an ankle clip mounted to said upper body for clipping about the wearer's ankle to securely maintain the foot in position in said upper body, said ankle clip comprising a pair of gripping arms extending on opposed sides of said upper body in an ankle area thereof, a web extending at the back of said upper body and interconnecting said gripping arms, said gripping arms being biased towards each other to a close position, the gripping arms opening up under the pressure exerted thereon by the wearer's foot when the wearer pulls-on the boot over his/her foot and automatically closing down against the wearer's ankle once the wearer's foot has been fully inserted in the boot pass the ankle clip.
 8. A boot as defined in claim 7, wherein the upper body has a counter area and a calf area, and wherein the ankle clip is placed above said counter area and extends upward to the bottom of said calf area.
 9. A boot as defined in claim 8, wherein relief cut-outs are provided in said web. 